Automobile-signal.



W. I. SMITH.. AUTOMOBILE SIGNAL. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 13, 1913.

Patented Feb.3,1914.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

v j WORDEN I. SMITH, OF SILVERLAKE, INDIANA.

- Be it known that I, WORDEN' IvEN SMITH, a citizen -of the United States, residing at .Silverlake, in the county of Kosciusko and State of Indiana, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Automobile- Signals; and I do hereby declare the f ollowing to be a full, clear, and exact descrip- .tion' of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This'invention relates to new and useful improvements in automobile signals, and has for its object to provide a device which will indicate the direction which the automobile is' going to take.

Another object of my invention 1s to provide adevice which will indicate the above both in the day time and after dark:

Still another object of my inventlon. 1s to provide an indicator which will operate 1n combination with vthe tail lamp of a. motor vehicle', so that it will be .unnecessary to carry more than one light in the rear.

With the above and otherfobjects in view, I will now proceed to describe 'my inventlon in the following specification and accompanying drawings, 1n which I Figure 1 is a diagrammatical plan View of my invention as itwould appear when 1n use. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectlonal view showing the particular arrangement of parts. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectlonal view taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 1s a side view of the revoluble cylinder; and Fig.- 5 is a cross sectional view of one of the cylinders.

. Referring tothe drawings by characters of reference, 1 indicates generally one of my signals in position on the front of an automobile.

2 is the wire or flexible member by means of which the same is operated. One of the wires 2 is carried rearwardly from the front -of the car to a pulley 3 which 1t 1s passed around on its way back to the controlling device, indicated generally at 4; A second iiexible member 5 isl attached to the operating mechanism 4 and extends rearwardly to composed o? the drum 33 and the flange 34,

the rear signal 6. v

The operatingmechanism consists essentially of the plate 7 which is attached tothe foot board 8 of an automobile. Al plunger 9 is provided at its upper end with a plate -10 upon which the operator presses when he Specification nf Letters Patent.

Y AUTOMOBILE-SIGNAL.

Patented Feb. 3, 1914.

` Application led March 13, 191B. Serial No. 754,081.

desires toindicate the direction which will be taken. The plunger 9 is provided adjacent its upper end lwith a recess 11, the use of which will be more fully hereinafter described. A second recess -12 is provided a short distance belowthe recess 1 1, the use of which, will also be more fully described hereafter. The end of the plunger 9 vopposite the plate is provided with an aperture through `wl11ch the pivot 13 is adapted to pass. This.v pivot 13 is connected to the `bifurcated.. arm 14 of a bell crank. This bell crank is preferably pivo-tedas shown at 15 andsupportedl by means of the downwardly extending projection 16 which is attached tothe'plate 7 by means fof the flange 17,

through which a rivet 18 is adapted toextend. The bell crank is provided with a downwardly extending arm 19 havingat'its lower end an aperture 20, in which the flexible member 8 is adapted to be fastened. The flexible member 5 is also attached to the arm 19 by means of the aperture20 and it will be seen when the plunger 9 is pressed downwardly, the arm 19 will exert pull on each of the flexible members and cause the cylinders of the indicators to rotate. 1

The cylinder consists of a fixed cylinder 21 having at each end the closures 22. On

one of these closures I preferably provide anl elongated bearing 23, havlng an aperture extending transversely therethrough. A larger aperture extending at right angles through the elongated bearing is adapted to receive the end of the shaft 24, this shaft being bent at right anglesas shown at 25, to form the U-,shaped member 26. The arms 25 Aare adapted to receive the clamps `27 of the lamp socket 28 ,in which the' lamp 29 is adapted tolseat. The coil spring 30 is attached to the shaft 24 at 31, and is adapted to cause the inner rotary cylinder to return to its normal position. v

The inner rotary cylinder is composed of the cylindrical member 32 having closures at cach end thereof, one of said closures being provided with a spool upon which the end of either the flexible member 2 or 5 is adapted to ind. This spool is preferably which the'sleeve 39 is adapted to be clampe attached to the ends of an automobile. The i sup ort used on the forward end consists pre erably of an upstanding stud 38 around The cylinder 21 is attached to this sleeve 39 by means of rivets or bolts 40. The inner rotatable cylinder 32 is preferably provided with letters as shown at 41 which are adapted to register with an opening 42 in the outer cylinder and allow the light Ato show through. The inner cylinder 1s also provided with a clear opening 43 which is adapted to register with the opening 42 for the purpose described. above. A stop 44 having a flange '451is suitably mounted 'to the inner sidel of theixed cylinder 21, this sto beingvadapted to prevent the inner cylin er front rotating vbeyond the desired oint. p In operation, should the operator. desire to go to the right he will press the plunger 9 and cause t-he notch 12 to hook under the plate 7, and it will be seen that upon transmitting power to the bell crank arm 19 pull will be exerted on the members 2 and 5 and the inner cylinder 32 will be rotated fora lpartial distance. Should the operator desire to go to the left t-he plunger 9 is pushed down far enough so that the notch 11 will engage beyond the plate 7, and'it willl be seen that the inner cylinder 32 will rotate for substantially its entire distance .and

Vbring u the desired letters on its face. Upon re casino' the plunger 9 the spring 30 returns the cylinder to lts normal position nosas and causes the plunger to rise, vandthe cylinder will-indicate a clear road. a i Whilein the foregoing I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it'is to be understood that Imay changeI the 'structure and arrangement of -parts Without in 4any way departing from shaped section on the said shaft, an electric lamp socket held between the arms of the U-shaped section and the clamp, and means to control the lighting of a lamp' when in.

position in the socket.

2. In a device of the character described cylinders, a shaft extending longitudinally through said cylinders, said shaft being substantially U-shaped intermediate its length, a clamp secured to the arms of the U-shaped member formed on the shaft, said clam being enlarged intermediate its longitu inal extremity, an electric lam socket secured in the enlarged portion of t e clamp, electrical connections attached to the lamp socket, a lamp adapted torbe held in the socket and a switch to control the flow of current through the connection and vthereby control the lighting of the lam In testimony whereo I alix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

TAimNcn R. Jonrz, C. LEROY LEONARD.

dop!" o! this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner ot latenti. Washingtomn. 0. 

